The Fugitive

-Chapter Eight-

Emily dashed downstairs to finish getting her daughter's school lunch ready since they were running a little late this morning and she still had to drop the girls off at school. Normally, she was up at the crack of dawn having everything ready for the day, but last night had been a little hectic. After Jack had left for the night with Dave, Emily went to the basement to finish the rest of the laundry. Mostly, she was trying to hide so the girls didn't see her cry. She had agreed to let Jack go with Dave, because she wasn't sure she could take any more of his disrespectful attitude. He had really broken her heart, and now she was actually mad at him. At first, she tried to reason with herself to understand that Jack was having a hard time. But as days passed and his attitude only got worse, Emily couldn't justify his actions anymore, his words had stung her heart. She wasn't his mother, he had said, he had also said she had driven her father into another woman's arms by being a pain in the ass…that was after he said she would end up in a grave, too. As much as she hated to be mad at the fourteen-year-old, she couldn't help herself, she had never expected this from him. Not even Aaron, her husband, had ever said anything so hurtful and low even in their worst moments, but then again, Aaron had never been the kind of man who lashed out when he was angry. The majority of the time it was her lashing out him, and he always took it like a champ, he never really fought her back, and most of the time just walked out and waited until she had cooled down, something that really pissed her off. They couldn't even fight like a normal couple without him profiling her, so to have Jack being so disrespectful to her really hurt.

Her night only got worse as Ellie had another tantrum when her mother attempted to send her to bed…the worst outburst Emily could recall ever. Her youngest had always been the emotional one, she knew that very well, but now she was throwing a tantrum every time Emily asked her anything. That was partly because Ellie was the closest of all of her children to their father; she was the baby of the family,and she had Aaron wrapped around her little finger. Not having her father around was hitting her harder than Emily had ever expected. She logically knew all these things, so she tried to reason with the four-year-old, threatening to ground her and take her television time away, but it only ended up with Ellie crying uncontrollably until she threw up all over the carpet. After Emily cleaned up the mess and bathed Ellie, she managed to calm her down, but Ellie ended up sleeping in Emily's bed since all the crying and whining had given her a small fever, and that worried Emily more than her unusual outburst. By the time they went to bed, it was past midnight, and she was exhausted, but so was the little girl. Usually, Emily wasn't a big fan of tantrums, she loved her kids, but she knew how spoiling children and letting them do whatever they wanted resulted in bad behavior…she had seen it in the field too many times. Neither she nor Aaron let their kids act out, especially the way Ellie had today, and it took everything Emily had in her not to spank her little butt and lose it on the girl…the majority of the time her firm tone and stern voice did wonders. But watching her father being arrested wasn't something a four-year-old could just forget, so Emily acted as calmly as she could, letting her kid lash out and then helping her shower. They would talk about consequences later, her priority now was making sure she didn't get sick, again, and getting her to bed since it was way past her bed time.

Between Ellie's meltdown and Jacks nasty attitude, she was worn out. So, when her alarm went off she didn't hear it and overslept, and now she was late and she knew she couldn't afford to take another sick day at work. She urged the girls to get ready while she made them a quick lunch.

"Is your school bag ready?" She asked Zoe as she watched her oldest daughter walking into the kitchen, the girl only glared at her in return.

"Someone isn't in a good mood today. What's wrong?" She asked with a small smile.

"Nothing, where's my biology book?" Zoe asked giving her mother an unimpressed look.

"Are you asking me about your things? You are the one who did homework yesterday, shouldn't you know where your book is?" Emily asked frowning.

"Well you're always going through my things so…?" Zoe bit back in a harsh tone, much harsher than what Emily was used to.

"What's with the attitude today?" She asked, the last thing she could take was Zoe acting out as well.

"Nothing! We're late, why are you even making us lunch? That's why they have a cafeteria at school." The ten-year-old retorted looking at her mother with angry eyes.

"Yes, and you've complained about school lunches before, so…"

"No I haven't, besides all of my friends eat at the cafeteria, I'm not taking that, they will make fun of me" Zoe said looking warily at the sandwich her mother was making and storming out of the kitchen in a search for her book.

"You know what, fine…starve to death!" Emily said tiredly. "See if I care." She said finishing the sandwich anyway and stuffing it in a brown paper bag.

She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, it was too early for this, this is exactly what she needed…her sweetest child acting out as well. Zoe had never acted out, hell, Emily couldn't ever remember a time her kid gave her a "no" for an answer, let alone raise her tone at her. And now she was giving her an attitude and looking at her as if she was the enemy.

"Mommy, I'm tired." Ellie replied, walking into the kitchen pulling Emily out of her haze, she looked up to see her youngest daughter looking at her with a pout on her face.

"I don't want to go to school today, I don't feel good."

"You don't?" She asked, reaching to touch her daughter's forehead. "You don't have a fever anymore."

"But, I don't feel good, I want to stay home."

"I'm sorry, baby, but that's not how it works, you wouldn't be feeling like this if you hadn't been up throwing tantrums all night." She reprimanded gently. "I'm sorry but you have to go to school."

Ellie's lip started to quiver. "Oh no no no!, don't even think about it." She warned firmly.

"There will be no more tantrums, last night was your one and only free card, you act like that again and we're going to have serious issues, do I make myself clear?"

Her kid just nodded too tired to argue with her mother, so she hopped onto a kitchen stool and rested her head on her arm whining softly.

"I'm sorry, mommy." She added in a low, sad voice.

"I know you are." Emily replied, softening her tone and reaching out to smooth down her daughter's hair.

"Still, that type of behavior is unacceptable and you know it, so tonight after school we're going to sit down and talk about your punishment, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, now please go get your backpack, we're running a little late."

The girl begrudgingly left to retrieve her backpack, letting out a dramatic sigh and complaining about her head hurting and not feeling well. Emily ignored her comments knowing Ellie wasn't sick, she was just grumpy and sleep deprived. As much as she hated to send her to school like that, she had to discipline her child.

Later that afternoon, Emily walked into the small breakfast restaurant few miles from the Academy. She wasn't really hungry, but she figured she needed some coffee and maybe some fruit. She had to meet with the team later to talk about Aaron's extradition to Guantanamo Bay and his upcoming trial. As much as she hated the idea of her husband going into the most secure prison in the nation, she knew they were lucky his trial had been moved to an earlier date. She still had no idea what Aaron was planning and what he had meant with "He will take care of everything", but she was beginning to worry he was actually going to be charged with a crime and prosecuted. No matter how much he insisted on his innocence, and Emily did believe him, she knew all the current evidence was pointing against him, and that was not good. She finished paying and stood by the register while she sent Dave a message about her conversation with the judge earlier that morning.

"Emily?"

"Steven, I…uh...please don't tell me you are following me around."

"Of course not!" The academy director said smoothly, "Why would you even think that?"

"It's the second time this week we've run into each other at random places outside of work."

"You really can't call this place a random place, everyone from the office eats here." He pointed out as he looked around the crowded place recognizing a few familiar faces.

"Maybe." Emily said sighing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across so rudely, it's just been a long morning."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but thank you." When they called for her order, she picked it up, saying, "I should go, I'll see you in a little bit." She said, making her way out of the café.

"Emily, wait!" Steve followed after her, not really liking her rejection.

"Look, Emily, I'm sorry if I offended you the other night."

"You didn't." She replied honestly, "There's just a lot going on."

"I know, I heard about Aaron's transfer, I'm really sorry." Emily just nodded approaching her car and opening the door. After setting her food and coffee down in the car, she turned to face Steve.

"I know I've said this before, but please let me help you with something, your hands must be full." Steven offered.

"I appreciate that, Steven, but you've done enough." She was beginning to get tired of his overwhelming attentiveness.

"I just want you to be okay, I care about you."

"I have to go, Steven." Emily said, ignoring his comment and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry again, I don't want to upset you anymore than you already are."

"I know that." She replied, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath wondering if she was just being over emotional? She realized quickly she wasn't when Steven's hand reached to touch her cheek.

"I'll do anything to see you happy."

With anger rising in her mind, her eyes turning dark and fiery, she retorted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She bit out through gritted teeth, "You're my boss, we're in a public place, and I'm married!" Her face was red with anger and frustrated emotions.

"Emily, I...sorry, I wasn't..."

"I need to go." She said, before he could make an excuse. She was seething, and the last thing she needed was to lash out at her boss, as inappropriate as his actions were, she knew she couldn't tell him off the way she wanted to.

She drove away deciding to go directly to the BAU, instead of going back to the office. Her classes for the day were over, and she wasn't really sure she could face her boss right now. She didn't even bother to let him know she wasn't going to return to the office, even though they had a meeting. After the way he had behaved, she truly didn't care about what he thought.

She arrived at the BAU about ten minutes later nursing a cup of coffee and praying her face didn't look as bothered as she felt. She had texted JJ on her way, and the blond said they were in the conference room, so she headed straight there. When she arrived, everyone stopped talking, looking at her with shocked and worried eyes.

"What's going on?" She asked, sensing the tension immediately; however, no one really responded, they just glanced around at each other.

"Okay, can someone please tell me what's going on, I'm having a horrible day so one of you had better start talking." She demanded while taking a seat.

"Dave?" Emily said in a warning tone glaring at her friend and her daughter's godfather.

"Just tell her, she deserves to know." Morgan broke the silence with a sour look on his face.

"Tell me what?" Dave sighed and reached for the manila envelop he had in front of him.

"We just got this from the public defender's office."

"What is it?" She asked, taking the envelop from his hands.

"Their subpoena records from Aaron's cellphone."

"I don't understand…why did they subpoena his phone records?" She asked opening the file and glancing at the documents.

If her day hadn't been hell already this couldn't compare, inside were several pages of conversations between Beth and Aaron. Her eyes began watering as she read the offending papers.

Aaron: You know I love you, just please be patient.

Beth: I have been patient, Aaron, you said you would leave her soon.

Aaron: And I am going to, just give me time, I have already spoken to a divorce lawyer.

Beth: I just want this to be over and for us to be together.

Aaron: It will be over soon and then we can be together soon.

Beth: I can't wait to start our life together.

The messages went on and on. Emily didn't even have the courage to keep reading, and honestly she didn't care. She took a few seconds to gather herself and looked at her friends again.

" I guess that answers our questions." She said tightly.

"There is more." Dave added. Truly? Because she hadn't had enough.

"What else could there be because this is all I needed to know."

"The coroner called with additional information about Beth's autopsy...she...uh..."

"She what!?" Emily asked, feeling her throat close around her words.

"She was pregnant."

Emily tried to speak but nothing came out. She blinked the tears away but they were still clouding her eyes. She stood up from the chair walking away from the team. Without looking back, she headed straight to the elevators. She just needed to get out of there before she broke down in front of everyone.

By the time Emily picked her kids up from school she had managed to sob for at least an hour, take some time to cool down, re-apply her ruined make up, and spoken to her lawyer. She was going to file for divorce, as much as this hurt her, she had to do what was best for her children. After everything Aaron had done to her, she had to put her feelings aside and focus on helping her kids move past this and continue to live their lives without him. At least for her, she would never keep the kids from him, but their marriage was over.

She drove home with the girls, hoping that she could focus on spending time with them. It was obvious that her kids were hurting and she needed to spend time with them and to make them understand what was going on. If Jack had been right about anything, it was that she couldn't keep lying to them, so she knew that eventually she had to find a way to come clean with them.

JJ and Garcia were going to come over that afternoon for dinner and a movie night for all the kids. She wasn't really in the mood for social gatherings but she knew the girls needed it more than she did, so she would make an effort to spend time with everyone and smile, even though she was falling apart inside.

"Ellie take your backpack upstairs and change out of your uniform; then, we're gonna talk about yesterday." Emily commanded gently to her youngest daughter. Zoe had gone upstairs as soon as they arrived home, and she had barely said a word to Emily on the way home from school.

"Okay." The girl rushed upstairs with her backpack flying behind her, Emily followed taking her coat and briefcase with her. After briefly dropping her belongings on her bed she went into Zoe's room.

She found the girl curled up in bed listening to her iPod and reading a book.

"Hey, I need you to finish your homework first, okay." Emily said, patting her daughter's leg gently. The kid, however, jerked away from her touch giving her an unimpressed look.

"Okay, this attitude has been going on all day, what's the matter with you?"

Still no response.

"Zoe." Her mother warned, tilting her head and giving her daughter a firm stare.

"I just want to be left alone."

"Can you tell me why you're so upset with me? This is so unlike you to act like that." Emily pleaded.

"Nothing is wrong, I told you!"

"Obviously, there is, honey, please tell me what it is." She reached to touch her daughter's chin with Zoe recoiling from her touch, throwing the book and iPod on the bed looking at her angrily.

"I don't want to talk to you, I told you I just want to be left alone!" Zoe shouted, racing toward her bathroom and slamming the door leaving Emily stunned with her mouth dropped open.

She stood up from the bed considering what to do next…she could make Zoe open the door as slamming doors and locking themselves in places was against the rules. But she knew that would only upset her daughter more, so she decided against it, it was better to give Zoe time to be angry and vent. Later on, she would have a conversation with her, so she headed downstairs to have another conversation with her youngest child.

When she came downstairs, Ellie was sprawled out on the living room carpet watching television. She gently took the remote turning off the TV and asking her kid to join her on the couch.

"We need to talk about last night's behavior." She said softly.

"Okay."

"You know very well that acting like that is not acceptable."

"I'm sorry, mommy." Ellie vowed looking down.

"I know you are, but that doesn't mean there won't be consequences." She said softly. "I know you miss dad, and you're having a hard time, but you can't just act out throwing tantrums for absolutely no reason."

"But.…"

"No, there will be no butts, you're in trouble. Ive been very patient with you and this behavior has to stop, so there will be no television time with the exception of today."

"But Auntie JJ and Penelope are coming over to do movies." Ellie whined.

"I know, that's why I said that today won't count, but starting tomorrow you're grounded for a week." Emily watched as her daughter's face turned into a pouty frown. She could see the tears forming in her child's eyes.

"Mommy, that's not fair."

"And neither is the way you been behaving. I'm sorry, okay, I love you very much, but this is not the way we act in this house, and you should know better, so you're going to have a week without television."

"But I like my show, and now I won't get to watch it anymore. " Ellie said as tears rushed down her face. "I want daddy; I want to talk to daddy."

"Dad's not here, and even if he was, rules are rules...and you're still going to get to watch your show, just not this week."

"I hate you, I hate you!" Ellie shouted, jumping up from the couch, now sobbing. "I wish you were gone and not daddy!" The child shouted rushing upstairs.

Tears prickled in Emily's eyes…all of her children hated her, and she had no idea what to do, or how to handle them. They had never misbehaved like this, and she was trying to discipline them, but she was only making everything worse. She headed upstairs to her room, afraid that she might say something she regretted. She closed the door and walked over to the bed where a framed picture caught her attention. It was a picture of her and Aaron when she was pregnant with Zoe. She picked the frame up, anger bubbling up against her,

"I hate so much, Aaron!" Emily cried throwing the picture against the wall and watching it shatter as it hit the floor.

She sat down on the edge of the bed covering her face with her hands, crying softly. She had no idea what to do now…she had lost control of everything, her husband had cheated on her and gotten his lover pregnant, not to mention the fact that he was in prison charged with murder; her boss was an idiot who was only trying to get in her pants and now all of her children hated her. When did everything become so complicated, she thought bitterly. She wasn't sure how long she stood there her face hidden behind her hands until a soft knock on the door brought her back to reality.

"Hey." JJ said, walking in. Emily hadn't even heard the doorbell ring.

"Hey, I'm sorry." she said, quickly wiping her eyes and standing up from the bed. "I didn't even hear the doorbell."

"It's okay, Penelope is downstairs with the kids, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, lets just go down." She said dismissively, but JJ stopped her.

"Emily, what's going on?"

"I'm fine, I promise you."

"Emily, you're my best friend, do you seriously think I am stupid...just talk to me."

"I'm okay really JJ, let's go the kids must be hungry." She replied in a weak voice, blinking the tears away. JJ gently pushed her down to sit on the bed again.

"Look, Pen has everything covered downstairs, why don't you just talk to me for a few minutes, you can't keep bottling up all of this..."

"It's nothing I am telling you"

"No it's not, just talk to me babe…I know the information today was heartbreaking, but did something else happen?"

"No, not really?" Emily cried. "Everything is just falling apart, and I can't do anything about it...l've lost control of everything, my job, my life, my kids..."

"What do you mean?"

"My kids hate me."

"No, they don't."

"Yes, they do, Jack has been belligerent and angry and blames me for what happened to his father, and Ellie is just uncontrollable, she is just..."

"Wait! is that why Jack went to Dave's? I was wondering about that, did you two get into a fight?"

"He was just so angry and disrespectful, you should have heard him, JJ, he broke my heart, and Ellie is throwing tantrums about everything. She has never been this bad; yesterday she vomited from so much crying, and now Zoe won't even talk to me. On top of everything, I fucked everything up at work, I should have seen the signs with Steven...and…."

"Wait, hon, slow down." JJ said, reaching for her hand.

"What happened with Steven?" She asked, frowning.

"He's just so attentive and all over me, and there was this rumor that he had a crush on me but I ignored it, and then he..." She just couldn't finish the sentence.

"Please don't tell me he tried to do something inappropriate because I will murder him right now." JJ warned, ready to hop off the bed.

"No, nothing like that!" Emily stated and reached for JJ to stop her from moving.

"He just reached to touch my cheek, but it doesn't make it any less inappropriate, and I don't even know if I want to go back to work now."

"Well, I'm really not that surprised." JJ said smiling softly.

"You're not?" Emily frowned, her lashes dampened.

"No, I mean, I…we already kinda knew had a secret crush on you." JJ joked "Plus, you work with him so closely it was bound to happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emily asked offended. "Do you think I brought this on myself?"

"No, of course not, relax." The blond said reaching to squeeze Emily's knee.

"I mean you're smart, driven, badass and beautiful, guys just dig girls like that."

"But he's my boss, JJ."

"So was Aaron." JJ said dryly.

"Okay, that's not fair."

"I am just teasing you, look, maybe you're just seeing too much in it; maybe, yes, he was a little inappropriate, but it sounds more like he was just trying to be sweet, he is a nice guy."

"You're just saying that because you like him." Emily said reproachfully.

"No, I'm just serious, from what you are telling me he is just trying to help, but if it really bothers you that much, just talk to him. I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding...it's not the end of the world."

"I don't know."

"It will be fine trust me." JJ said gently.

"Now what happened with Jack?"

"He was so...hurtful, the things he said..." Emily's eyes began filling with tears again.

"What did he say?" JJ frowned, surprised, as she had never recalled Jack acting out.

"It doesn't matter."

"It obviously does, what did he say, Emily?"

"He just blames me for what happened with Aaron, and you know what? He's right, I drove him away, it's my fault he did this."

"Okay, now you're just being irrational! There is absolutely nothing that justifies what he did."

"No, JJ, I did." Emily said sadly sadly looking at her chewed fingernails "I drove him away, I forced him to look for what I wouldn't give him in another woman."

"Which is what?"

"You know we were having issues in that area." Emily wiggled her eyebrows. "But it was me who didn't want to you know, be with him.."

"So what?" JJ asked angrily "I don't always want to have sex with Will, that doesn't give him the right to go sleep with another woman."

"Yeah, but we had been having issues for a while JJ."

"That's fucking marriage!" JJ said angrily, baffled that Emily would try to justify Hotch's behavior. "You have issues and you deal with them, you don't just go sleep with someone else and get her pregnant. I mean, he didn't just cheat on you...he really, really cheated on you."

"It doesn't even matter anymore." Emily said bitterly.

"It does, because I know it hurts, but you know what, you'll be okay, Emily, you're incredibly strong and I know you'll overcome this." JJ reached to squeeze her best friends hand.

"I don't know..."

"You will...so what else did Jack say?"

"Nothing."

"Emily..."

"He just…." Emily took a deep breath remembering his words and reliving the conversation to JJ.

"He actually said that to you?" JJ asked angrily, her face full of shock.

"I don't even know where it came from." She shook her head blinking a few tears away. "But it hurt me so much, JJ, I don't even know why he's so mad at me."

"Okay, look, nothing justifies his behavior, but you should not take it personally, this is affecting all of the kids equally, so I'm sure it was just in the heat of the moment." JJ said, trying to make Emily feel better, but making a mental note to rip Jack's head off as soon as she saw him.

"Emily, I know this is really hard for you and the kids, but it does get better, I promise you and one day it won't hurt anymore."

Emily closed her eyes tightly preventing more tears from falling.

"And it's completely okay for kids to act out and throw tantrums. You have a degree in psychology and criminology, you know exactly how kids re-act. Ellie is just venting on you because you're the only parent in the house, and, Em, what they witnessed is not something any child can just brush off."

"I know JJ." Emily sniffled wiping her eyes. "That's why I've been so patient with her, I know she's hurting too."

"So, just keep doing what you're doing. Look, maybe if we take the kids somewhere, like actually go to the lake this time, or even the beach it will help a little. I don't know, but it's okay for them to be hurting and angry, they're kids, Em." JJ said smiling softly and squeezing her had

."I can't even begin to imagine how much this is hurting you, let alone the kids, so it's okay if they're angry and won't talk to you, just give them time, they love you, Emily, you are their mother, they're just being kids."

"I'm not Jack's mom." She said sadly, sniffling again.

"Okay, you know what, that's just bullshit, Jack adores you, and you are his mother, he was just being a stupid kid, and that doesn't justify what he said, but trust me, that kid worships you, Emily, and I'm sure that by now he's probably feeling terrible about what he said."

Emily shrugged.

"Everything is going to be okay, we're here with you, we love you and we're not going to leave you alone." JJ squeezed her hand again.

"I know and thank you." Emily said pulling JJ into a tight hug.

"When was the last time you slept?" JJ asked, looking at her friend's tired eyes.

"I don't even know, but it's okay, we really should go meet the others."

"Look, Garcia is here, and we've got everything covered downstairs, why don't you take a shower and then sleep for a little bit...we'll stay with the kids."

'"I can't, JJ, I have so much stuff to do, I was actually going to ask you to watch the kids a few hours today, I want to go see Aaron."

"Why, I mean, I know why, But why?"

"I'm filing for divorce."

"Okay, I understand that, honey, but I still think you should get some sleep first. I really don't think you're in any condition to talk to him."

"I don't really care about what he did, I just need to talk to him."

"I know, babe, but right now you're too emotional, plus I don't think you are in any condition to drive, you're very close to falling asleep from exhaustion…there's no way I'm letting you go anywhere like this."

"I am really okay JJ I just need some coffee and..."

"Emily, stop fighting with me." JJ said more firmly. "You're not going anywhere, go take a shower or a bath, whatever the hell you want. I can even get Garcia to come and make you one of those relaxing bath rituals she does with candles and bath bombs and whatever the hell she puts in them."

"That does sound nice." Emily said, with a final sniff and small laugh.

"Good, so just take a little bit of time for yourself, get some sleep and tomorrow will be another day."

"I love you." Emily said, pulling JJ into another hug.

"I love you, too, babe, come on." JJ said retuning the hug and ushering Emily off the bed.

"Come on, lets get Penelope to prepare a bath for you, oh, and I brought you that soup you like from that Chinese restaurant."

"I want to marry you." Emily joked following JJ.

"Sorry, I'm taken, babe."

"There are certain life lessons that you can only learn in the struggle."― Idowu Koyenikan